Wrestling with God...

It's been a week. That's the only way to describe it. Why do we wrestle with God? We know we won't win, but sometimes our human nature just takes over and we think we are right.

Kevin and I have struggled with whether or not to be Sunday School teachers at church. We still haven't officially joined the church, but yet, were feeling the calling to be a part of that ministry. And low and behold we get a call from someone, asking if we would be willing to teach. After praying about it, we decided that as long as they understood that sometimes the weather wouldn't allow us to make it up to Sioux Falls, that we would agree to team teach a grade, but we had no idea what grade it was. We had prepared ourselves for kids Kaylie's age and younger. Wednesday night, we were asked to attend a Sunday school teacher training meeting. They brought us our materials, and both of us were not prepared to get materials for 5th graders. She asked us if that was ok, and Kevin's respose was "wherever God needs us to teach, that's what age group we will teach." After choking back the emotions, I shook my head yep, that's fine. We have been so blessed by the ministry at Good News. And now it's our opportunity to try and give back. We covet prayers as we prepare for this age group. We have no idea what kinds of questions will come our way, but know that God will help us as we prepare lessons each week. It amazes me the depth of Jordan's faith - the questions that he is asking, the Biblical knowledge that he has already. And these kids are older than he is. Can I do this? And then this morning, pulled out the teacher's manual and began to look at this quarter's curriculum. Old Testament stories - the great ones that define how powerful our God really is. We just read about how Moses led the Israelites across the Red Sea with our family last week, and guess what the first lesson is about. Our kids had so many questions about it - I truly feel that God was preparing my heart for the teaching of other kids. How appropriate that this would be the first lesson that we will teach together. And Kevin's willingness to help with the Sunday School class - what a blessing. At the meeting, he told the Education Director that he felt "out of place because he was the only male at the meeting." She assured him that there were other male teachers who just weren't at the meeting, and she chose us for 5th grade because there were some children in that class who came from single parent homes and that a male teacher in Sunday School could have a huge impact on their lives. And wow, is he taking that seriously.

"I lift up my eyes unto the hills, were does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth." This Psalm has hit me this week, as I have heard "I will Praise you in this Storm" by Casting Crowns so many times while listening to the radio. Things at the dairy have just been hard this last year, with prices being so depressed. It is hard for me to see Kevin work so hard for absolutely nothing in return. I know that he loves what he does, and that is what keeps us going. And we have given it over to God. Jordan introduced us to a movie about a year ago, "Facing the Giants". It's a football movie, so I was hesitant to watch it, but if you haven't seen it, it is absolutely amazing. The first time we watched, there were tears in everyone's eyes. But the message that came out of this movie - "We will praise God when we win, and we will praise God when we lose" - has been our family's motto since we saw it the first time. I think that's all that God asks of us - to love him wholeheartedly, and to praise Him in every aspect of our lives. And to watch our family try and live that motto out has been humbling, and so extremely uplifting.

As we prepare to teach 5th graders this Fall, I can't help but ask myself - what can I learn from them?

A week of Firsts

It has been a week of "firsts" for the Huitink family. It amazes me how often we have those firsts, but it is also very special. Kaylie lost her first tooth on Wednesday, after some prodding from several older cousins. She took a napkin and pulled it out at the Pizza Hut in Orange City. After we got home, she wouldn't go to sleep because she was afraid of the tooth fairy. But, the next morning when she woke up, mom got a phone call that "the tooth fairy left me a buck! I'm not scared of that guy anymore!" Kaylie had a second tooth that was very loose, and on Saturday afternoon, she let dad wiggle it and he pulled that one out. We now have a little girl missing two bottom front teeth! The tooth fairy came again on Saturday night and was accidentally generous, and she found $2 under her pillow on Sunday morning. We told her that it might be a good idea to put one of the dollars in the offering at church on Sunday morning, and she decided that it would be good to put BOTH dollars in. Needless to say, made mom and dad very proud.

Jordan had his first football game in Sioux Falls on Saturday. He is playing Center on offense, and somewhere on the line for defense. No, I'm not an ignorant mom, they just kept moving him around on the line. I think he ended up at Right Tackle, but we'll see where he plays next week! Their team lost, 13-26, but they did score two touchdowns and really played well together for the first experience in an actual game. He had a tackle to prevent an extra point, so he was pretty pumped about that. Although, he did come out of that one with a battle wound... The kid he tackled ended up with his helmet coming up on Jordan's chin. It has turned some funky colors, that's for sure!

Overall, Jordan was satisfied with the outcome. He is anxious for football practice again tonight.

Today is the first day of school. Jordan was ready to go...he has missed the social part of school. Kaylie goes this afternoon - at 12:30. They have an early dismissal at 1:45, so they will ride the bus home. Maybe if I pay close enough attention to time this afternoon, I can get a picture of them coming off the bus together. Kaylie has been asking every 15 minutes "when is it time to go to school", so it will probably be a long morning!

Proud Mama!

I don't believe you can every be TOO proud of your kids. Being a mom has been such an amazing experience. I know, it helps when you have GREAT kids, but really, when my kids do something special, I just beam from ear to ear!

Today was the last day of football camp. Jordan has been going with his friend, Lucas, all week. They have turned into great buddies and spend time talking on the phone. Color coordinating shirts was the topic of choice this week, so that they could be on the same "Razzle Dazzle" team. But somehow they always ended up being "skins"...

Camp was in Sioux Falls, so it's been a little chasing, but we did some carpooling and the boys had a great time. At the awards ceremony this morning, Jordan was told he had the best combined punt, pass, and kick distance. Total of 273'. Jo's comments were, "mom, I was shocked! I knew I had the second longest punt and kick, but I had no idea this was coming!" Anyway, he received an extra gift (a really nice mouth-piece that he can use for football this Fall), and afterwards he went up to Coach T and said, "Thank you for the mouth piece." Coach T said to me, "you have one of the most sportsmanlike kids I have ever had at camp. He is always willing to help someone out, even if he knows that they might not "score the touchdown" and he had the opportunity to just score it himself. He's always pumping the other kids up!" WOW!!! WAY-TO-GO JO!

Here is Jordan with Coach T and the other two winners - fastest 40m dash and fastest obstacle course time.

Official football practice starts next week Tuesday night. Should be lots of fun. Jordan is excited to have 5 kids from Viborg playing on the team this year. Games will be Saturday afternoons at Riverdale Park from August 22 through mid-October (with the exception of Labor Day weekend, no games then).

Bible School '09

We survived our week of Bible School. What a week it was! It was AMAZING to see God at work in the lives of the kids there. So privileged that Kevin was able to come along all 5 nights and help out. And thankful that everything went smoothly at the dairy while we were gone each of those nights. Needless to say, the chores were not finished by the time we had to leave at 5:00 each night!

We studied Go Fish "Backstage with the Bible" for the week, and for me to be the music person was just a total blessing. We learned the 10 Commandment Boogie, and to see preschoolers with the "light going on that these are from God" is just amazing. The kids favorite song was "Stories" which was great, not only because we could sing the familiar songs of Zaccheus and Only a Boy Named David, but they could jam out with "na-na-na-na-na-na WOO-HOO".

Kaylie loved the craft portion. Actually, I don't think there was a part of Bible school that she didn't like. Ok, maybe snack because they always seemed to "mix" foods together. She's much more content to eat them all individually and let her tummy mix them up inside.

I was so proud of Jordan. He was a trooper all week, and did a great job getting the kids in his group to SING! And do the ACTIONS! (not so easy for boys entering the 4th grade - not the "coolest thing" in the world!)

Wednesday night was a big night. We got in the car and he said to us, "At story time tonight, I went into a room with some other kids and Pastor Kevin prayed over us. It was awesome." We asked him why he was prayed over and he said he couldn't remember exactly what it was called, but he asked Jesus to be in control of his life that night. I told him "that's exactly what it's called, honey!" I can't describe the emotions that went through me when he said that. Intense, would be an understatement!

We have truly been blessed by the people at Good News. God is good, and the way He has been working in all of our lives during our time spent there has been wonderful. Life changing. We were able to meet on a more personal level some very neat people there through the VBS experience, and our whole family has been blessed by the experience.

VBS 09

Kevin and I are volunteering for the Vacation Bible School at Good News Church in Sioux Falls. It started last night (Sunday). After church, we helped take down the worship center and started creating "Backstage with the Bible". We took a short break in the afternoon and had lunch with Mom, Dad, and Kris to celebate Mom and Dad's 20th wedding anniversary. We went to the 26th Street Grille (shoot-off of Minerva's) for a yummy brunch. It amazes me how quickly time flies, and that they have been married for 20 years. Dave has been "dad" for longer than my dad. I'm very thankful that mom and him are happy and have been blessed with these years together.

Back to Bible School...Kevin is officially the "Bouncer" for Bible School. And he was used EVERYWHERE while we were setting up yesterday. You could here "where's our Bouncer" being yelled frequently - any time they needed a tall person, something hauled. And to say the least, he was more than willing to help wherever he was needed. He's so awesome...

Last night, we kicked off the Go Fish VBS series, Backstage with the Bible. I am blessed to be doing the music segment, and had a blast trying to teach the kids the actions and bee-bopping all over the stage. To say I was tired would be an understatement, but it was worth it all to see the smiles on the faces of the kids.

Vacation!!!

After last minute deciding to go to Minneapolis for a few days (because it was the only week the rest of the summer that worked out!), I'm thinking we weren't there long enough. The kids did very well on the trip, and we got to do some things that Kevin has never done, either. We headed up on Tuesday, and had made hotel reservations at the Water Park of America. If you have never been there, it's worth the trip if you are a water park fan! We spent probably 10 hours in the water park, bt it sure didn't seem like that long! Kaylie spent most of the time hauling Kevin up to the 5th story to go down he double tube slides, while Jordan and I went singly. The family raft ride was a blast, but climbing 10 stories of steps really proved to me how out of shape I am! Jordan was perfectly content to do some things on his own - he liked all of the individual body slides too. A couple of years ago, he would have freaked out if we weren't just an arms length away from him. My, how times have changed. As he told us when we got home on Saturday, "that was the best 1/2 birthday party ever!" that's when we realized he turned 9-1/2 while we were up there. Worked our pretty well, I'd say!

Wednesday morning, we headed out for breakfast and just happened to run into Chris and Colin Lang in the hallway. Crazy. Chris took us back to their room and told Kaylie to walk in and say hi to "scare Sherry". It worked. She was about ready to send her out and say "you have the wrong room honey". And then Aunt Helen called and Jordan talked to her. We could tell we really threw her off, when Jordan's responses were "Huitink", and "Kevin and Kim". What are the chances? Same hotel in Minneapolis, in the hallway at the same time...

Wednesday night we headed for the Metrodome to watch the Twins play. Kevin had never been there, and Jordan is officially addicted to Foxs Sports North, so we went and watched them play to the Yankees. Got on the Light Rail at the MOA, which went really well. the kids loved the train ride. Found our seats and Jordan was just in awe. He saw Joe Mauer come out and he was zoned. The game didn't go so well, the Twins lost 4-3, but it was a really good game. AND we got to see Joe Mauer hit a home run. AWESOME!

We all marveled at the whole game experience. We sat on the first base line, upper deck and no foul balls were hit our way, but Jordan was ready with is glove on!

New baseball terms such as "Span-sandwich" are being used at our house (thanks to the guys sitting next to me at the game). The kids couldn't believe when we left the Metrodome how "windy" it was. We giggled about that for a while, until we saw the line for the train back to the MOA. Yikes! Kaylie wasn't really in the mood to stand in line at 11:00 PM and then be packed in a train like sardines for 1/2 hour. After hitting the 28th street station, she sat down on Jordan's feet and fell asleep. Too bad we had to wake her up at the next stop!

Family time is so precious. It amazes me how busy our lives are and when we just stop, take a breath, and enjoy the time together, the memories that are created are priceless!

Baseball...

I guess to say that summer is going to be busy would be an understatement. As I look to the month of June, there basically is no breaks. We are into full swing baseball season, and Jordan is having a blast. I am very thankful for the coaches that he has this year. They are definitely stressing the importance of respect and sportsmanship throughout the game in addition to really working on their individual skills.

We had our second game last night, in Viborg. They played the team of Hurley and Jordan got to see some of the kids he played Football with last fall. It was fun to see some of those parents too!

They are playing two innings, with everyone having a chance to hit each inning, with his grade playing all together. Jordan had a single and a double, and scored a run both times. Both hits were out of the infield, and he was VERY excited! He got to play catcher the first inning, which is one of his favorite positions to play. In spite of some equipment malfunctions (the elastic was broken on the catcher's helmet so it kept falling over his eyes), he did very well. The second inning, they put him in left field. Before we went to the game, he was really hoping to play a "base" (and catcher was his first choice). When he went to the left field for the second inning, you could see a little disappointment that he was in the outfield. BUT, he got a pop fly and also got the runner at second base out because he didn't wait to see if the ball would be caught and was part of a double play. BONUS! Not only was he part of the double play, but he realized how EVERY position on the team is an important one. Good life's lesson for all of us!

It always amazes me how quickly time flies. Kaylie is counting the days until we get to go to Dubuque to Aunt Jenn and Eric's wedding, (he's still not "Uncle Eric" - Kaylie says "mom that's just wierd". She'll get used to the idea!) Only 13 more days until Kaylie and I head out. Kevin and Jordan have 15 days to wait. I wish I could go out sooner, but that's just the way it is.

I have become VERY fond of my days at home. Even though I seem to put in more than 8 hours on those days, it is so wonderful just to hear Kaylie chirping in the background. And to be home when Jordan gets home from school.

The kids have become very excited about the Easter season. They are anxious for more than Easter baskets (although the Easter baskets are definitely a plus!).

I'm going to try this...

So I've seen others that have started a blog, and figured it would be a good way for me to keep in touch with people and let them know what's up with the Huitink's. As I watch Kaylie karaoke tonight, it hit me how fast the kids are growing up. She started with Shania Twain songs, and has moved to her favorite sunday school Cd and back to Shania again. Dancing, singing, she just loves music and it's awesome!

After the snow storm overnight, it's good to see the snow melting, but the mud underneath creates its own challenges. We are all so ready for spring!